Birding in Noumea

We have just had a few days in Noumea (New Caledonia). Birding was not the main purpose of the trip, but we hoped to see some birds whilst we were here. In the central township there isn’t much – Common Myna, Red-vented Bulbul, House Sparrow, Common Waxbill, Silvereye, Grey Fantail, Spotted Dove, Feral Pigeon, Silver Gull on the shore, and one or two Sacred Kingfisher. We did see some Ruddy Turnstone on the shoreline and Wandering Tattler, quite a large number of Wedge-tailed Shearwater going anti-clockwise around the coastline, and at the nearby Hippodrome with a lake there were some Pacific Golden Plover and a lone Nankeen Night Heron. The most interesting birds are at Parc Provincial de la Riviere Bleue. We had a trip arranged with a guide, but unfortunately it doesn’t take much wind or rain in New Caledonia for these trips to be cancelled. Our backup plan was a trip to the zoo (Parc Zoologique et Forestier Michel-Corbasson) – we did manage to get in for 30 minutes and got a quick view of a Kagu (Cagou) before that closed as well. I wasn’t very happy. Noumea is an expensive place to get to; the eating and accommodation are expensive, so it would have been nice to see some birds whilst we were here.